AFC Wimbledon manager Neal Ardley heralded his side’s gritty performance as they booked a place in the FA Cup Third Round with a 1-0 victory at Wycombe Wanderers.
Sean Rigg stabbed home the only goal of the game just before the hour mark, his fourth of the season, as the away side prevailed in a scrappy encounter.
Rigg’s goal came from excellent build up play between George Francomb and Adebayo Akinfenwa and Rigg, who was being deployed slightly further up field in a forward three, coolly prodded past Matt Ingram to secure the win.
The Dons’ boss felt that his players reciprocated their manager’s efforts throughout the week to install a winning mentality in the lead up to a match in a competition the club has real a pedigree in.
Ardley said: “If I got paid by the minute that I think about my job I would be a millionaire.
“I can’t tell you how hard we have worked this week. Every training session has been at such an unbelievably high intensity – the game was the easy part.”
The Dons were worthy winners and exacted an element of revenge against his old friend Gareth Ainsworth after the Chairboys comfortably won the league fixture at Adams Park 2-0 in October.
The game could have had a more one-sided outlook if the visitors had taken their first half chances, particularly within the very first minute when top scorer Matt Tubbs headed just over.
Ardley felt that the hosts failed to get a hold of a change in tactics as he moved Rigg further forward to create a 4-3-3 formation, allowing the likes of Francomb to express themselves more in midfield.
“I think they might have been a bit surprised by that,” added the 42-year-old.
“We said at half time that it was on for a midfielder to break into the spaces. That’s cup football, you take risks.”
Ardley backs goalscorer Rigg to reach double figures in all competitions this season and believes the strike will help to kick on the left midfielder’s season.
Image courtesy of AFCWimbledonTV via YouTube, with thanks
